


Crossing Paths

by aceoftwos



Category: Septimus Heap - Angie Sage
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Slow Build, Slow To Update, i'm talking fucking glacier slow for both of those
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 00:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10477563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceoftwos/pseuds/aceoftwos
Summary: There's a series of destinations in Marwick's Map of the Ancient Ways, here's the journey he and Sam took to get to them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> no one seems to have written fic for there two. couldn't believe it so i'm rectifying the situation. here's my very liberal take on what might've happened to sam and marwick during those seven ish years between the end of fyre and the beginning of sandrider. 
> 
> probs gonna be slow going bc this writing style is hell, i'm swamped, and i'm an amazingly skilled procrastinator. 
> 
> also, i apologize. i own all the books except starchaser, which i haven't read yet, but i was not about to go digging into nine books for a few bits of info that i didn't know where to find. i'm working mostly off memory and guesswork. it's fanfic, so i'm fudging it. if there's anything absolutely huge that i've gotten wrong, please let me know so i can look it up and fix it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and welcome to the beginning. 
> 
> a word of caution to anyone who thinks that mimicking someone else's writing style will be fun: IT ISN'T. SAVE YOURSELF. RUN.

** Part I ** : _Nothing_

It was a wet, dreary autumn morning in the Marram Marshes, typical for this time of year. Sun shone weakly through the dense foliage covering Draggen Island, making strange, flickering shadows on the mossy ground.  On that very same island, in a small stone cottage, a young man with dark, matted hair was waking to find that he was not alone.

Sam Heap was asleep on his floor, wrapped up in one of the faded patchwork quilts that had once belonged to Aunt Zelda. Marwick walked carefully around him and crouched in front of the fireplace, pulling a few logs onto the embers to get the fire going.

His footsteps were light, nearly soundless, but Sam had been awake the moment someone entered the room. Living in the Forest for so long had left marks on both of them.

“It’s all right, Sammo. Just me. Go back to sleep,” Marwick said, though he doubted Sam would listen. Without turning to check, he walked into the kitchen to start the kettle. The quiet scrape of metal against ceramic drifted through the room as Marwick stirred milk into both mugs.

When he came back, Sam was awake and yawning. Marwick made no effort to hide his amusement. The Heap family wasn’t known for having the neatest hair and Sam was no exception, especially not so early in the morning. He settled in next to Sam, who tossed half his quilt over Markwick’s shoulders before accepting the mug. They sipped their drinks quietly, momentarily content to sit and watch the fire.

“What brings you?” asked Marwick finally, breaking the silence.

There always seemed to be some sort of emergency whenever anyone came to visit, _especially_ if it was one of the Heaps. Which, Marwick thought, was a shame. He enjoyed having visitors, but he’d enjoy it a lot more if there wasn’t a problem looming over them every time.

“Nothing much,” answered Sam.

“Really?”

“Nothing,” Sam repeated. He glanced sideways at Marwick. “Do I need a reason?”

“No,” Marwick said finally. “But you can’t blame me for asking.”

“You must be confusing me with Sep,” Sam replied with a grin. “He’s the one that keeps dropping in with all the complicated **magykal** problems.”

“Maybe.” The floorboards groaned as Marwick eased backwards, careful to keep the quilt tucked around both their shoulders. He smiled. “I think this is the first time someone has visited me just because they wanted to see me, not because they needed help.”  

“Really?” Sam frowned and drew the quilt a bit tighter as he shuffled closer to Marwick. It was still quite cold in the cottage, despite the fire and the tea. “Marwick, that’s awful.”  

“I don’t really mind.”  

“If you say so...”  

“It is what it is.” Marwick shrugged and glanced at Sam, startled to see no small amount of concern in his expression. “When you have a best friend like 412, you spend more time saving the world than socializing. I got used to it. I was never the type to sit around anyways.” 

“I suppose,” Sam replied slowly. 

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Marwick assured him.

It really wasn’t. Marwick liked the peace and quiet of the Marram Marshes, different from the almost predatory silence of the Forest. Learning how to be a Keeper kept him occupied most days, and Septimus almost always showed up with a new puzzle to solve whenever it didn’t. This wasn’t anything like the life he’d imagine for himself, whenever he dared to dream about it in the Young Army barracks all those years ago, but he was more than happy.

“—think I’m going to stick around here for a little while, if that’s all right.”

“Of course,” Marwick replied on instinct. “I’ll make up the spare bed.”

“No need,” Sam said. “We can share, if that’s all right with you. It’s cold in here, especially this time of year. I don’t know how Aunt Zelda always managed to keep this place so warm.”

“I think it’s the house.” Marwick had always felt that Keeper’s Cottage was special and **magyk** seemed like the obvious answer. Septimus could probably come up with a more complicated reason behind it, but Marwick liked to keep his explanations simple. “I don’t like it as warm as she did, so the house doesn’t keep it as warm anymore.”

“You think the house is **magykal**?”

“I don’t know for certain, but it’s likely.”

“Huh.” Sam shrugged off the answer in a way that always made Marwick laugh. Even with all the **magykal** chaos his family had lived through, Sam Heap was still the same. “Weird.”

“Weird,” Marwick agreed. “Breakfast?”

“Sure, I’ll help.”

 ** Part II ** : _Fishing_

“I don’t have anything planned, if you want to go fishing.”

Marwick wasn’t crazy about his friend’s hobby of choice, but it was a nice enough way to pass the time now that the rain had stopped. He was more than happy to indulge Sam just to see that smile he showed whenever anyone so much as mentioned the word ‘fish’.

“Rods still in the broom closet?”

“I think the tackle box is still in there too.”

 ** Part III ** : _Quiet_  

In the Forest, talking was never encouraged. Marwick could probably count on two hands how many words were spoken most days. Even now, years later, they still didn’t talk much. Things stayed quiet until Marwick abandoned his fishing rod and stretched out on the damp grass.

“Giving up?”

“Yeah. Keep going, I’m going to take a nap.”

Sam nodded and reeled in his line to cast again. His lure had barely touched the water when Marwick’s breathing evened out.

 ** Part IV ** : _Slowly_

Much later, Marwick was startled out of sleep by Sam’s muffled cursing. He propped himself up on his elbows and blinked away the leftover sleep in his eyes.

“What’s happening?”

“It’s... fighting me,” Sam said from between gritted teeth, “more than normal— _help_!”

Marwick scrambled up, wrapped his arms around Sam’s shoulders and got a grip on the fishing rod. He dug his heels into the soft ground beneath them and yanked back on the rod as hard as he could. It barely budged.

“What on earth did you catch, Sam?!”

“I have no idea,” he replied, grunting with effort. He turned the reel slowly as Marwick struggled to keep the rod upright, fighting for every inch of line that appeared from beneath the water. The fishing line sped along the water’s edge, chased by a long, thin shadow. A scaly head broke the surface and hissing rose to join the buzz of marsh insects. “Is that..?”

“It is,” Marwick confirmed. “You caught the Marsh Python, Sammo.” He lasted a whole two seconds before he collapsed on Sam’s shoulder, breathless and shaking with laughter.

 ** Part V ** : _Eureka_

After a dinner of fish stew and some soft rolls, Sam climbed the stairs to the bedroom as Marwick banked the fire and checked that the door was locked. There was little chance of anyone breaking into the house this far out into the marsh but after everything he’d gone through with Septimus, Marwick had discovered that he would rather be safe than sorry.

Marwick headed upstairs after finishing his routine and found Sam asleep in the nest of blankets atop the bed. Sam’s hair was falling across his face, gently pushed outwards by his slow breathing. There wasn’t anything strange about it. Nothing out of  the ordinary happened.

Something clicked in the back of his mind. Marwick said a rude word.

 ** Part VI ** : _Love_

It was the kind of creeping realization that left Marwick reeling when he finally put all the pieces together. He’d never been interested in much of anyone before. Even when the other Heap boys started hanging around the Wendron Witches, he always stayed behind to hunt and forage or keep Sam company. Marwick was poor company back then, between his general disposition and lack of desire to speak, but Sam always seemed to appreciate his efforts.

It never occurred to Marwick that there was any other reason he’d stayed. Until now. All those thoughts that he’d shoved to the back of his mind because there were always more important things to do at the time, painted a picture that was crystal clear.

Marwick was in love with Sam Heap.

The realization wasn’t as shocking as he would have expected. Sam had known Marwick longer than almost anyone, except Septimus, and absolutely no one knew him better.

If Marwick was going to fall in love with anyone, Sam would have been his first guess.

 ** Part VII ** : _Easy_

Knowing didn’t change much. It was still just as easy to curl up next to Sam as it had been earlier that morning. Easier, even. There was a part of Marwick, one that was suddenly much louder than it had been in the past, that was desperate for it. It was almost scary, how much Marwick found himself wanting this, in more ways than one.

 ** Part IX ** : _Company_

Frost crept across the ground, shying away from the unfrozen water flowing sluggishly through the marsh. White dusted the tree leaves. It was a stark change from the slight chill in the air yesterday. Marwick shut the door to Keeper’s Cottage and turned the lock.

“It’s getting colder.”

“Apparently the Big Freeze is supposed to start early this year,” Sam said.

“Galen said that too,” Marwick said slowly. “But _this_ early? You’re going to be stuck here.”

“Would that be such a bad thing?” Sam whittled away at a stick with his knife, careful of his fingers, and aimed a crooked grin at Marwick. “You’re good company. I didn’t have any plans.”

“Good,” Marwick replied. “Because you’re not leaving any time soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. has marwick been subconsciously aware of his crush on sam for a lengthy period of time? yes. but you know septimus's group. there's always more important shit to deal with so you shove it to the back of your head and deal with the problems at hand. 
> 
> 2\. did sam plan to get stuck at keeper's cottage for the winter? no. but hey, company for a few months! can't turn that down. 
> 
> 3\. is it a pain in the ass to try and write two characters who have bare minimum development? short answer: yes. long answer: oh my fucking god, this was a nightmare. marwick's my favorite chara in the books but i know so little about him. bc there's very little to know. like nothing. do not even get me started on sam. his character is basically typical older brother and he likes fishing. IF THERE'S MORE, I DO NOT REMEMBER IT. i read the books again recently trying to find more info (also i just rly love the series) and fucking nada. i'm so mad. if angie sage doesn't write at least a little novella about them (tho tbh i would not turn down a series about their adventures thru the ancient ways) i'm gonna riot. not rly. i fucking love her and i'll respect whatever she does. but also there's not even any fanfic for me to lean on. it's grossly unfair.

**Author's Note:**

> and that's it so far! well, i guess just. comment if you enjoyed it? i'd like that. and feel free to talk to me on [tumblr](http://ao2fics.tumblr.com/)!


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